The quality of the education system depends on the competencies of teachers and other professionals in schools. Although it is widely acknowledged that teachers need to take care for their professional development, expand their knowledge and skills throughout their careers (Loy, 2024; Sancar et al., 2021), the depth of expertise they acquire during formal education remains crucial. Teacher education programmes must adapt to constantly evolving societal demands and professional roles. Ongoing social changes require continuous redefinition of teachers’ tasks, as today’s teaching role extends beyond traditional teaching and has become increasingly complex. This shift poses substantial challenges for teacher educators, who must prepare pre-service teachers for a broader set of expectations.

In the European context, the so-called Bologna Process has strongly influenced initial teacher education by aiming to harmonise higher education systems. The Common European Principles (Zgaga, 2006) emphasize that teachers should research and demonstrate their own practice to foster knowledge. In recent years, various EU policy documents have expanded the scope of initial teacher education, underscoring the necessity for digital competence and highlighting the pivotal role of teachers in achieving a green transition and sustainable development.

Teachers should be prepared to integrate digital tools into the learning process while fostering environmental awareness. One way to do this is through the use of multimedia tools, which offer opportunities to enrich the instruction, but their mere availability does not guarantee success but requires a variety of knowledge and skills that enable teachers to select and use the technology in a didactically meaningful way (Drožđek et al., 2019). For this purpose, frameworks such as DigCompOrg (Kampylis et al., 2015) and DigCompEdu (Redecker & Punie, 2017) have been developed to guide institutions and teachers in fostering digital competence. At the same time, the European Green Deal (Evropska komisija, 2019) and the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030 (European Commission, Directorate-General for Environment, 2021) underscore the need for schools and universities to advance the green transition. The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (United Nations General Assembly, 2015) also highlights education’s central role in building a sustainable society, identifies education as one of the Sustainable Development Goals to promote equitable access and lifelong learning. In this context, the GreenComp framework (Bianchi et al., 2022) stipulates a set of sustainability competencies that should be included in teacher education curricula.

Analyses of policy documents in the field of teacher education indicate that social and political demands on teachers have been escalating, leading to confusion over the specific competencies pre-service teachers should acquire. While it is indispensable to address contemporary needs (e.g., digital transformation and sustainability) teacher education must also retain a focus on essential pedagogical foundations. Ultimately, teaching and educating remain at the heart of the profession.

This article examines the competency profile of pre-service teachers by analyzing teacher education programmes alongside students’ self-assessments of their competencies. The findings shed light on how teacher education programmes educate pre-service teachers for the tasks they have to perform at school.

Research questions

RQ1: What content is most frequently included in existing teacher education programmes, and to what extent are digital competence and competence for sustainable development integrated?

RQ2: For which teaching tasks do pre-service teachers feel most, and least, adequately prepared?

RQ3: Do pre-service teachers differ statistically significantly in their self-assessed competencies related to effective teaching, collaboration with colleagues and the broader community, professional development, as well as organizational and leadership skills?

RQ4: How do pre-service teachers perceive their current level of digital competence?

RQ5: To what extent do pre-service teachers perceive their sustainable competence, climate literacy, energy literacy, and biodiversity conservation and are these self-assessments statistically significantly different?

This study employs a mixed-methods design, integrating both quantitative and qualitative research approaches. It was conducted within the framework of the Modernisation of Teacher Education Study Programmes project, co-financed by the Republic of Slovenia, the Ministry of Education, and the European Union—NextGenerationEU. The primary objective of this project is to integrate contemporary, future-oriented content into teacher education curricula, with a particular emphasis on digital competence and sustainable development. All public universities in Slovenia, alongside every faculty offering initial teacher education programmes, are participating in this project. In the qualitative phase, a content analysis of existing initial teacher education programmes at the University of Ljubljana was performed. Out of 62 programmes, 47 were randomly selected (75.8% of all initial teacher education programmes) and included in the analysis. For the content analysis, 12 broader content areas were defined, including teaching, quality education, professional development, health and well-being, digital literacy, sustainable development, among others. The subject curricula of the individual study programme were analysed. In the quantiative phase three questionnaires were designed. The first questionnaire measured digital competence, encompassing 93 items divided into five domains: information and data literacy, communication and collaboration, digital content creation, security, and problem-solving. The questionnaire was completed by 450 pre-service teachers from the University of Ljubljana.The second questionnaire, addressing sustainability-related competencies, comprises 84 items distributed across four areas: sustainable competence, climate literacy, energy literacy, and biodiversity conservation. This questionnaire was completed by 490 pre-service teachers from the University of Ljubljana. Both questionnaires evaluated three dimensions of competence-knowledge, attitude, and behaviour. The third questionnaire, focusing on the overall competence profile of a teacher, encompassing 66 items that captured respondents’ self-assessed qualifications in various pedagogical activities. It was completed by 441 pre-service teachers from the University of Ljubljana. Each sample is considered representative, enabling the generalization of findings to the broader population of pre-service teachers at the University of Ljubljana. All data were collected via web survey questionnaires administered in classrooms under the supervision of an instructor during October and November 2024. Descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages, means, measures of dispersion) were calculated, complemented by inferential statistics to examine potential variations within the participants (paired-sample t-test).

The competence profile of a teacher is presented in four basic content areas: Competencies related to effective teaching (including effective use of technology and sustainable development literacy), competencies that enable collaboration with colleagues and the social environment, competencies for professional development, and organisational and leadership competencies. The competence profile is compared with a content analysis of existing study programmes and with the students' current self-assessment of their competences. From the content analysis of teacher education programmes at the University of Ljubljana, we found that teaching-related areas (especially knowledge assessment and didactics) are most frequently addressed, whereas professional development is least emphasized. Topics such as artificial intelligence and lifelong learning also appear underrepresented. Pre-service teachers rated their competency highest in teamwork, recognizing the teacher’s role as a role model for students and the wider community, and communicating with students in an appropriate language. On the other hand, the lowest ratings were given to working with students from immigrant backgrounds and those from socially or culturally disadvantaged contexts. In terms of digital competence, pre-service teachers reported high levels of competence in communication and in usage of digital tools. Moreover most pre-service teachers are able to find a solution online when they encounter a technical problem, independently select the right tools or devices for a given task and know how to use online learning tools and environments independently. However, knowledge of internet safety and the ability to create digital content were assessed lower. In sustainability, pre-service teachers reported limited knowledge of the Sustainable Development Goals and biodiversity conservation, while their knowledge of climate and energy literacy was higher. However, it is encouraging that their behaviour and attitudes towards the Sustainable Development Goals, the importance of biodiversity conservation and climate and energy literacy are positive.

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